30/04/2023 – The Cairo Bulletin (3)
A Tour of the Vault
Alex asks him about the large doors. Dr Kafour tells him that it is vault to protect more rare and fragile items from damage, as well as darker aspects of history that are not for the feint hearted. There are also some books of forbidden and dark knowledge that must not be read by the uninformed.
Zalkador asks if he can give them a private tour and he agrees for a small fee. He takes a key from around his neck and opens the big doors. As he does, Alex, Tiger and Zalkador spots an ankh symbol around his neck. Tiger is immediately suspicious he could be a member of the cult. It also looks like he may be carrying a gun.
Inside the vault are layers of shelves reaching up to the ceiling, with lots of items in them. There is a distinctly musty smell in here. Dr Kafour puts on some gloves and shows them some of them things that are not on display, but there must be a 1000 items large and small in here. One item is a knife that has a discoloured blade that apparently has the blood of a Pharaoh and is thought to be cursed. Another is a book called the Necronomicon, by the mad Arab Abdul Al-Hazred. A rare and dangerous book.
Mutual Suspicions
While Tiger and Alex are suspicious of Dr Kafour, he is clearly suspicious of them as well and they continuously check on each other and attempt to avoid being manoeuvred into a corner. Cassandra senses the mood change and decides it is time to leave. Dr Kafour escorts them out of the vault, locks the doors, says goodbye and returns to his work.
She then turns on them and asks what was going on, why were they acting so rudely. Tiger tells her about the ankh around his neck and carrying a gun. Jeziah and Alex agree they suspected the man too. Zalkador points out the ankh was the right way up – not inverted like the Brotherhood of the Black Pharaoh use. He does not think the man is a cultist at all and Cassandra is inclined to agree with him.
Which Lead Next?
They catch up with Mahmoud outside the Museum and return to the hotel for lunch. Cassandra ponders which lead to follow next. She enquires how far El-Wasa is. It is far south of Cairo. They would need to take a boat, but it would take a few hours to get there and the same to get back, requiring they set off in the morning. It is too late for today.
She then turns to the missing Sarcophagus. They wonder how powerful and important this Queen Nitocris is and where the cult could have taken her body. Zalkador would like to visit the newspaper and ask Nigel Wassif what the Carlisle Expedition go up to while it was in Egypt and Cassandra agrees that is a good idea.
The Cairo Bulletin offices are within walking distance. They meet Nigel Wassif, a pale-skinned Egyptian who is dressed in a white suit and Panama hat, with a pencil moustache. He has a “BBC English” accent. There is a picture of King George VI on the wall.
The Carlisle Expedition in Egypt
Zalkador asks him about the Carlisle Expedition. He remembers them, as that was one of his first assignments. He takes out a photograph taken of the Expedition members emerging from a restaurant, having had dinner with Omar al-Shakti, a cotton plantation owner. He remembers they arrived in spring 1929, looking for the secret history of a third Dynasty Pharaoh. They were beastly in refusing to co-operate with the press and did not let him into their digs. Zalkador asks about the Black Pharaoh, but he does not recall that specifically being mentioned.
They did an excavation in Giza, then they went to Saqqara and then Dashur. There were rumours that they had found something in Dashur, but they did not tell anyone. Where they were digging in Dashur was unrelated to the Third Dynasty though. They also visited the Bent Pyramid which is nearby. It is believed that Pharaoh Snefru was the one who defeated the Black Pharaoh and his body was put in a pyramid that collapsed and became the Bent Pyramid.
Then Aubrey Penhew announced that the places they next wanted to dig in would be buried by the flooding of the Nile for a number of months, so the Expedition was going to head to Kenya for a break from the heat.
He asks what their interest in the Expedition is and Cassandra tells him about her relationship with Roger. He then tells them about the Clive Expedition, which is in Egypt now and is equally as secretive. He approached their dig once, but armed guards kept him out.
Dutch Archaeologist
They also talk about the mysterious circumstances of the disappearance of the sarcophagus of Queen Nitocris, who was a 6th Dynasty worshiper of the Black Pharaoh. He tells them a Dutch archaeologist was thrown out of the Clive Expedition, but is apparently stuck in Cairo as he does not have enough money to get home. His name is Janwillem Van Heuvelen. Mr Wassif had planned to go to see him at some point, but he has not got around to it. He gives them his address and asks if they can enquire if he is willing to be interviewed by the Cairo Bulletin, which they agree to do.
The Brotherhood of the Black Pharaoh
Cassandra then asks him about the Brotherhood of the Black Pharaoh and if he has heard about them. He says he has heard a lot of rumours about them, but it’s not wise to believe them all. He is not sure what to believe himself, he has met some people who believe they exist and are very dangerous. He then recalls talking to an American about them, possibly Jackson Elias. If they do exist, they bring shame on Egypt.
Zalkador tells him that Jackson Elias was murdered in London by member of the Brotherhood of the Black Pharaoh. He is shocked and fascinated. He asks more about Mr Elias but they do not know him well enough to say much more. Cassandra points out that he found out something so important to the Brotherhood of the Black Pharaoh that people from Egypt followed him to London and killed him.
Mr Wassif start to make notes, but Jeziah says they do not want to be in the newspapers. He then tells them about the various things that Mr Elias talked to him about, all of which correlate with the information they have.
They begin to wind up and Cassandra warns him that a number people who have looked into the Brotherhood of the Black Pharaoh have died and he should be very careful, which he says he will be.
Tiger Doesn’t Like Boats
They then leave and head back to the hotel for afternoon tea and cakes. Zalkador lets Mahmoud have cake, which he has not had much of. He loves it. Zalkador then asks him about the Mosque of Ibn-Tulun, which he knows of, it is not a mosque anymore, it has been turned into a hospital. Zalkador suggests they go there tomorrow and Mahmoud agrees to take them there.
Cassandra reminds them they could go to El-Wasa tomorrow. Mahmoud tells them they could hire a small boat to get there, there are no big ferries that go there. They would need to book in advance. Tiger does not want to go by boat and suggests they go by land, but Mahmoud says that would take days and be very uncomfortable, but Cassandra overrules him.
Tiger continues to argue and suggests he could stay here to guard the hotel rooms and they hire private security for their trip to El-Wasa. Jeziah wonders if he has a fear of boats, but Tiger denies this forcefully. However, he is going to stay at the hotel and he will arrange some body guards to escort them.
He immediately leaves to find some. He begins asking at the hotel, who direct him to ex-British soldiers who can be hired as mercenaries. The others relax at the hotel for the evening.